Barca News
Manchester City qualified for the Champions League final after eliminating Real Madrid in the semi-finals (5-1) on the aggregate of the home and away matches. This is the second time in the history of the English club that it has qualified for the final of the most prestigious European championship ever.
An exceptional season for Pep Guardiola’s team, which is just around the corner from achieving a historic treble: the English Premier League, the European Champions League and the FA Cup.
In the English Premier League, Pep’s men need to win one of the next three matches, and in the FA Cup they will face Manchester United in the final. As for the Champions League, the dream will collide with Inter Milan in the Istanbul final on June 10 next.
By the way, this date may carry unpleasant news for Sky Blues fans with the departure of one of the team’s most prominent stars this season, the midfield icon, Ilkay Gundogan, who is 32 years old.
The German midfielder has already decided to leave the English Premier League and try to play in another league, and he has chosen to go to the Spanish League, according to the Catalan newspaper, El Nacional.
The newspaper said that Gundogan refused to offer to renew his contract with Manchester City in order to fulfill his desire to play in La Liga, specifically in FC Barcelona under the leadership of Xavi Hernandez.
Barcelona welcomes the signing of the City icon, who stood out for his exceptional performance, especially in the second half of the season. But the Catalan team will not be able to give him a salary equal to the salary he was receiving in the English team (9 million euros net).
But according to the aforementioned newspaper, this is not a problem for Gundogan, who only asked for a 3-year contract, not just one year, as City imposed on him in the renewal offer.
On June 10, Gundogan will play the third Champions League final in his history and hopes to win it after failing in the previous two times, and then he will head to Camp Nou to start a new phase under Xavi’s leadership in Barcelona.
